 |
So there were these tiny kite things that were powered by engines that kept buzzing us in Yalta, they flew around all day by the ship. They were actually light air airplanes, not kites, so it looked scary to me. |
| The ship pulled out of the harbor at 6, just as we were sitting down to dinner with our adorable Wisconsin couples. We are certainly the most raucous table in the dining room, which is kind of funny because we are also a bunch of teatotalers. Hawk sometimes has a glass of wine and Shel has a Coors light, but otherwise we are drink free. Much to the serious disappointment of the wine steward... |  |
 | Hawk and I get up very early (usually) and eat breakfast from the Lido deck outside. The waiters, who know our names and have from the second day of the cruise, bring us coffee and we get whatever we want from the buffet. They have everything. Everything. Except the oj isn't great. And wait, they don't have cashew butter. But it's fabulous to sit on that gorgeous after deck in the sun and gentle breeze and eat breakfast. |
| Our verandah is also wonderful and private. It's great to sit there when it's hot and the sun is on the other side of the boat. Those glasses are my new Laliques that I bought on board so we could sip our after dinner drinks on our verandah instead of in the bar. We use them for water, too. |  |
 | Today is an at sea day, all day we are cruising to Istanbul at 10 knots. The seas of gentle and the wind is nonexistant. We walked for half an hour on the promenade deck, around and around the boat. The decks are 4 inch wide teak strips with black caulk between the boards and the crew cleans them every few days. They wash all the windows after every sea passage so they are always "crystal clean." This is such a classy operation! So here are me and Hawk tonight, just before dinner. It's a formal night, and everyone really does get dressed up. I was so glad to wear my wedding dress again! I got a lot of looks, it was so fun! |
| Here are our sweet friends, Nina, Shel, Shirley and Chuck. We are having a great time with them. |  |